Follow-Up Monday

Just a thought on D&D players: Those who are hardcore players seem to be more about the rules. They enjoy and expect lots of rules crunch, and lots of new releases. While other role-playing gamers will groan at the weight of their backpacks, full of various supplements, D&D players tend to enshrine their collections, and often even the biggest spender will carry a laptop full of pirated PDF copies, for table reference. These are the kinds of gamers who believe a RPG system "dead" if no books are forthcoming, and are very much concern that their game is supported, i.e., provided with regular releases. This is in stark contrast to say, many White Wolf players, who cringes at having to buy inexpensive supplements and rejoices that a system will be limited to say, half a dozen books.

I think the tendency to be crunch conscious is what drives many D&D players to accept 4th edition. 3.5 isn't broken, but it's limitations keep us from going much further in the arena of crunch. I admit I'm one of these people and I don't lament about the 3.5 books on my shelf, I mostly look forward to a shiny new system with infinite possibilities. I feel I've exhausted what I can do with 3.5. Perhaps it should mean I should move onto another game, but none of them have captured my consciousness, or that of my friends, like D&D.

40K

Autocannon Crews. Another hard, multi-part metal model that takes a half dozen stages to assemble. They just seem so small compared to the vehicles. I'll also be using rocket launchers with my revised list, but their a single model with a shoulder weapon - no tough assembly.


Officers. Senior and junior officers.

Mars Basing. I found the modeling sand I was looking for for my red mars paint scheme. This is from Woodland Scenics. They've got a large, medium and fine grain ballast material. I'll be mixing the large and medium. One of the stranger phenomenas in the Oakland-Berkeley area is hobby shops. There are several small ones but the best source seems to be the Berkeley Ace Hardware. They must have been the source for hobby supplies for many years because nowadays these kinds of diversified businesses don't do as well in an urban area.


Camo Netting. Why say you have camo netting when you can have camo netting. This is from Antonociti's in the UK. I'm thinking I'll dye the netting red. I have a few small bag of miniature maple leaves on order from them.

Making the Army List. I spent the weekend analyzing my army list, despite having not read the main rules or play-testing my list. I learned I probably should ditch one or two of the basilisks and probably add more troops or a couple of Leman Russ' (tanks). I'm like a lot of people who post their lists; anything built is off limits for removal, at least until proven wrong on the table. I'm also thinking my army is too diversified without a focus, but that's more because of what I want to build and paint. It's probably a good basis for a much larger point based army. My guess is that I play this list for a while, then I start adding and removing. Two out of three basilisks or sentinels would likely be removed for more troops and the tanks.

List of the Day:

1500 Pts - Imperial Guard Roster - Imperial Guard Tallarns

HQ: Command Platoon (14#, 483 Pts)
0 Command Platoon @ 483 Pts
0 Command Squad @ [137] Pts
Drop Troops; Light Infantry; Sharpshooters
1 Heroic Senior Officer @ [77] Pts
Drop Troops; Iron Discipline; Light Infantry; Surveyor; Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol
4 Guardsmen @ [40] Pts
Drop Troops; Light Infantry; Sharpshooters; Master Vox-Caster; Lasgun (x3);
6 Fire Support Squad @ [115] Pts
Light Infantry; Sharpshooters; Lasgun (x3); Autocannon (x3)
0 Sentinel Squadron @ [231] Pts
Drop Troops
3 Sentinel @ [231] Pts
Armoured Crew Compartment (x3); Drop Troops; Camo Netting (x3); Hunter Killer Missile (x3); Searchlight (x3); Lascannon (x3)

Troops: Infantry Platoon (36#, 500 Pts)
9 Armoured Fist @ 191 Pts
Sharpshooters; Vox Caster; Lasgun (x7); Flamer; Missile Launcher
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Sharpshooters; Laspistol & CCW
1 Chimera @ [95] Pts
Camo Netting; Rough Terrain Modification; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Heavy Bolter; Hull Heavy Bolter
0 Infantry Platoon @ 309 Pts
0 Command Squad @ [93] Pts
Drop Troops; Light Infantry; Sharpshooters
1 Junior Officer @ [45] Pts
Drop Troops; Iron Discipline; Light Infantry; Sharpshooters; Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol
4 Guardsmen @ [28] Pts
Drop Troops; Light Infantry; Sharpshooters; Vox Caster; Lasgun (x2); Grenade Launcher (x1); Missile Launcher
9 Infantry Squad @ [108] Pts
Drop Troops; Light Infantry; Sharpshooters; Vox Caster; Lasgun (x7); Grenade Launcher; Missile Launcher
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Drop Troops; Light Infantry; Sharpshooters; Laspistol & CCW
9 Infantry Squad @ [108] Pts
Drop Troops; Light Infantry; Sharpshooters; Vox Caster; Lasgun (x7); Grenade Launcher; Missile Launcher
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Drop Troops; Light Infantry; Sharpshooters; Laspistol & CCW

Fast Attack: Rough Rider Squad (5#, 60 Pts)
4 Rough Rider Squad @ 60 Pts
Vox Caster; Close Combat Weapon (x4); Hunting Lance (- LP) (x4)
1 Sergeant @ [11] Pts
Close Combat Weapon; Hunting Lance

Fast Attack: Rough Rider Squad (5#, 60 Pts)
4 Rough Rider Squad @ 60 Pts
Vox Caster; Close Combat Weapon (x4); Hunting Lance (- LP) (x4)
1 Sergeant @ [11] Pts
Close Combat Weapon; Hunting Lance

Heavy Support: Basilisk (3#, 394 Pts)
1 Basilisk @ 131 Pts
Camo Netting; Rough Terrain Modification; Earthshaker Cannon; Hull Heavy Bolter; Indirect Fire Capability
1 Basilisk @ 131 Pts
Camo Netting; Rough Terrain Modification; Earthshaker Cannon; Hull Heavy Bolter; Indirect Fire Capability
1 Basilisk @ 132 Pts
Camo Netting; Rough Terrain Modification; Searchlight; Earthshaker Cannon; Hull Heavy Bolter; Indirect Fire Capability

Total Roster Cost: 1497